What’s it all about?

You may be wondering who’s this geeky girl behind such an ominous and pretentious name? Well, I’m really not quite as snobby as the title of this weblog seems. I am, in fact, quite a good cook, I gave it up as a profession and ran back into the comfort of office life. But I wanted a goal again… I wanted to feel myself coming alive again.

Inspired years ago by the Julie/Julia project, and having a fondness for old recipes and ingredients, I decided to embark on a similar task. I decided to attempt to cook all of the recipes from a 1964 book called “The Delectable Past” by Esther B. Aresty. I picked it up inexpensively at an old bookstore and immediately fell in love with it. Less like a cookbook and more like a tasting tour of a vast, impressive and rare cookbook collection, I was immediately inspired.

The recipes focus mostly on 16th through 19th century recipes along with a small brush on Antiquity and the Middle Ages. My hope was I would also be able to inspire other cooks along the way. Gems like “The Joy of Cooking” and “A Feast of All Seasons” have been passed down from one generation to another, and many recipes we still use today seem to be derived in some way by these recipes Ms. Aresty writes about in this book.

With that, thanks for visiting. Please enjoy your visual meal, and feel free to share any information which might help me on my journey.

Fish, to taste right, must swim three times – in water, in butter, and in wine. – Polish Proverb